Sponsors (43)
The bill seeks to expand and diversify the perinatal workforce and improve culturally competent, year‑long postpartum care—potentially reducing maternal disparities—while relying on modest, time‑limited funding and nonbinding guidance that may produce uneven implementation and impose administrative and fiscal burdens on states, providers, and taxpayers.
Pregnant and postpartum people — especially in rural, low-income, and underserved communities — are likely to have greater access to perinatal and maternity care because the bill funds expanded training slots, scholarships, recruitment targeted to Health Professional Shortage Areas, and other workforce-development measures that increase the number of clinicians and community-based providers.
Racially and ethnically diverse recruitment, required bias/racism training in curricula, and emphasis on culturally and linguistically congruent care should improve provider–patient interactions and reduce disparities in maternal outcomes for minority patients.
More people (including doulas, lactation consultants, midwives, and other community-based perinatal health workers) and families will be eligible for recognized maternity care roles, and postpartum supports are explicitly extended to a full year after pregnancy, increasing the window for services and continuity of care.
The authorized funding level (notably the roughly $15 million per year authorizations) is relatively modest compared with the scale of nationwide perinatal workforce shortages, so the program may have limited impact while still increasing federal spending.
Because much of the guidance, recommendations, and illustrative lists are non‑binding or ambiguous and accreditation standards are not prescriptive, states and providers could implement changes unevenly, leaving geographic and programmatic gaps in access and sustaining disparities.
The bill creates additional administrative, reporting, accreditation, and implementation burdens for federal, state, and local agencies, as well as for hospitals, schools, and small grant recipients, which could divert staff time and resources away from direct services.
Based on analysis of 6 sections of legislative text.
Authorizes grants, guidance, studies, and GAO reporting to grow and diversify the perinatal workforce and promote respectful, culturally and linguistically congruent maternity care.
Official title: To amend the Public Health Service Act to grow and diversify the perinatal workforce, and for other purposes.
Introduced March 25, 2026 by Gwendolynne S. Moore · Last progress March 25, 2026
Creates a federal program to grow, diversify, and support the perinatal workforce and to promote respectful, culturally and linguistically congruent maternity care. It directs HHS to issue provider/insurer guidance and run competitive grant programs for training programs and nursing schools, requires NIH to study best practices, and directs the GAO to report periodically on barriers to maternal health education and access. The bill authorizes $15 million per year for two distinct grant streams from FY2027–FY2031 and sets reporting, prioritization, and technical assistance requirements for grantees.